Muffet McGraw (; born December 5, 1955) is an American former

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

coach and analyst, who served as the head

women's basketball Women's basketball is the team sport of basketball played by women. It was first played in 1892, one year after men's basketball, at Smith College in Massachusetts. It spread across the United States, in large parts via women's college compet ...

coach at Notre Dame from 1987 to 2020, compiling a 848–252 (.771) record over 33 seasons.

Career

McGraw led her team to nine Final Fours (1997, 2001, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2018 and 2019), seven championship game appearances (2001, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2018, and 2019), and two National Championships in 2001 and 2018. McGraw was the sixth different Division I coach to win multiple NCAA titles, joining Dawn Staley, Geno Auriemma,

Pat Summitt Patricia Susan Summitt (; June 14, 1952 – June 28, 2016) was an American women's college basketball head coach and college basketball player. As a coach, she acquired 1,098 career wins, the most in college basketball history at the time ...

, Linda Sharp, Tara VanDerveer and

Kim Mulkey Kimberly Duane Mulkey (born May 17, 1962) is an American college basketball coach and former player. Since 2021, she has been the head coach for Louisiana State University's LSU Tigers women's basketball, women's basketball team. A Pan-American ...

. McGraw was born in

Pottsville, Pennsylvania Pottsville is a city and the county seat of Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 13,346 at the 2020 census, and is the principal city of the Pottsville, PA Micropolitan Statistical Area. The city lies along the wes ...

. She graduated from Bishop Shanahan High School in 1973 and

Saint Joseph's University Saint Joseph's University (SJU or St. Joe's) is a Private university, private Jesuits, Jesuit university in Philadelphia, Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania, and Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The university was founded by the Jesuits, Society of J ...

in 1977. She briefly played professionally for the California Dreams of the

Women's Professional Basketball League The Women's Professional Basketball League (abbreviated WBL) was a professional women's basketball league in the United States. The league played three seasons from the fall of 1978 to the spring of 1981. The league was the first professional w ...

. She coached at

Archbishop John Carroll High School Archbishop John Carroll High School is a four-year secondary school part of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia, located in Radnor, Pennsylvania, on a 55-acre campus. The school currently enrolls approximately 685 students (2024). Hi ...

from 1977 to 1979, and worked as an assistant coach at Saint Joseph's from 1980 to 1982. From 1982 to 1987 she was head coach at

Lehigh University Lehigh University (LU), in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, United States, is a private university, private research university. The university was established in 1865 by businessman Asa Packer. Lehigh University's undergraduate programs have been mixed ...

where one of her notable players was Cathy Engelbert. McGraw was also Lehigh's softball coach from 1982 until 1985. McGraw became head coach at Notre Dame in 1987. Between 1987 and 2020, she led the Irish to 26 NCAA tournament appearances including a streak of 24 straight seasons from 1995 to 2019. During this streak, Notre Dame reached the second round in all but one appearance, including 7 championship game appearances. McGraw compiled 50 wins over ranked opponents, including 40 over the last 8 seasons. Her teams appeared in the AP poll 139 times during her tenure. Notre Dame finished in the Top 3 of the

Big East The Big East Conference (stylized as BIG EAST) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that competes in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA NCAA Division I, Division I in 10 men's sports and 12 women's sports. H ...

in 9 out of the 11 seasons they were in the league and finished in first place in the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

in all 4 seasons since they entered the conference. McGraw received the US Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) Coach of the Year award, the

Women's Basketball Coaches Association The Women's Basketball Coaches Association is an association of coaches of women's basketball teams at all levels. The organization was formed in 1981, with the goal of addressing the needs of women's basketball coaches. The mission of the WBC ...

Coach of the Year award, and the Naismith College Coach of the Year award in 2001. She was inducted into the

Women's Basketball Hall of Fame The Women's Basketball Hall of Fame honors those who have contributed to the sport of women's basketball. The Hall of Fame opened in 1999 in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. It is the only facility of its kind dedicated to all levels of women's bask ...

in 2011 and the

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pre ...

in 2017. In 2016, the John R. Wooden Award committee recognized her with the 2017 Legends of Coaching Award. McGraw is the 27th coach in NCAA history to win over 500 career games, and is currently tied as the eighth head coach in NCAA Division I basketball history to reach 800 career wins. On April 1, 2018, she achieved her 800th career victory at Notre Dame with a win over the Mississippi State Bulldogs in the National Championship game, her second national title with the Fighting Irish. On December 30, 2018, she notched her 900th career win against Lehigh, the team at which she began her collegiate coaching career in 1982. On April 22, 2020, McGraw announced that she was stepping down as the head coach of Notre Dame. She was succeeded by Niele Ivey, who had spent 17 seasons at Notre Dame as a player and an assistant coach. Since leaving Notre Dame, she has been a studio analyst for the ACC Network, contributing to studio shows and halftime reports. She also is a professor of sports leadership at the Mendoza College of Business at Notre Dame and has been involved in local Democratic politics.

Personal life

McGraw got her nickname from the nursery rhyme '' Little Miss Muffet''. She legally changed her name to "Muffet" prior to entering college. She met her future husband Matt McGraw at St. Joseph's, and married him in October 1977 and together they have a son, Murphy.

Awards and honors

In December 2023, the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

unveiled a Muffet McGraw statue in front of Purcell Pavilion, the school's basketball arena. A plaque in front of the statue notes her career accomplishments, including the two national championships at Notre Dame. McGraw's career coaching awards include: * 2001 – AP College Basketball Coach of the Year * 2001 – Russell Athletic/WBCA National Coach of the Year * 2009 – Carol Eckman Award * 2011 –

* 2013 – Naismith Women's College Coach of the Year * 2013 – AP College Basketball Coach of the Year * 2013 – Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Division I Coach of the Year * 2014 – espnW Coach of the Year * 2014 – AP College Basketball Coach of the Year * 2014 – USBWA Coach of the Year * 2014 – Russell Athletic/WBCA National Coach of the Year * 2016 – Legends of Coaching Award (2017) * 2017 –

* 2018 – AP College Basketball Coach of the Year * 2023 – NCAA President's Pat Summitt Award

Head coaching record

References

External links